2025 has become a year of unprecedented financial losses in the digital technology sector for the USA. According to the American Consumer Federation (CFA), citizens of the country lost $80.7 billion as a result of cryptocurrency fraud. These shocking figures are based on official statistics from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), but account for hidden losses that victims remain silent about.
Scale of the Problem: Real Figures vs. Official Reports
According to IC3 data, 181,565 reports related to cryptocurrency were recorded last year. The officially declared damage amounted to $11.37 billion, which is 22% higher than 2024 figures. However, CFA experts believe these figures are just the tip of the iceberg. The organization applied a multiplier of 7.1, based on data from the US Bureau of Justice Statistics: only 14% of financial fraud victims report the incident to law enforcement agencies.
As a result of this adjustment, the total amount of losses from all types of online fraud reaches $148.2 billion. This is equivalent to approximately $1,009 per household in the country.
Cryptocurrency and Investment Scams
Cryptocurrency schemes have become the largest source of losses, accounting for more than half of all recorded losses. Within the general IC3 report, the category of investment fraud was highlighted, where declared losses amounted to $8.6 billion. After recalculating with hidden cases in mind, this figure soars to $61.4 billion.
Separately, it is worth noting fraud with crypto investments. The FBI registered 61,559 complaints in this category totaling $7.23 billion. Criminals use complex schemes, promising super-profits to lure victims into a trap.
Seniors: The Primary Target of Cybercriminals
Statistics have revealed a worrying trend: people over the age of 60 have become the main target for scammers. In the cryptocurrency sector, this age group filed 44,555 notifications. Their declared losses amounted to $4.43 billion, which is almost 39% of all crypto losses recorded by IC3.
Across all types of internet crime, elderly people suffered the greatest damage — $7.75 billion. The average loss per complaint in this group was $38,500. This indicates that scammers are deliberately looking for victims with high savings, exploiting their trust and lower technical literacy.
New Threat: AI-Enabled Fraud
For the first time, the IC3 report highlighted a category of crimes involving artificial intelligence. In 2025, the FBI recorded 22,364 such complaints totaling $893.3 million. Taking into account the underreporting coefficient, the real damage is estimated at $6.3 billion.
AI technologies allow criminals to create fake profiles on social media, clone voices, forge documents, and generate videos featuring public figures or the victims' loved ones. This makes the deception practically indistinguishable from reality.
FBI Fight and International Operations
In response to the rise in crime, the FBI launched the Operation Level Up initiative at the beginning of 2024, aimed at combating crypto investment fraud. In the first year of the operation, more than 8,000 potential victims were warned, preventing losses of over $500 million. In 2025, these figures were 3,780 people and $225.9 million, respectively.
In addition to preventive measures, the department conducts large-scale raids. In May, the FBI announced the seizure of more than 127,000 BTC worth about $8 billion as part of the international Operation Blackout. The targets were scam centers and related networks that had been deceiving users around the world for years.
